Agent Palmer

A modern marvel of its time or any time, the B-17; old technology left to rot; a Maxim spoof in the Star Wars Universe; Magic: The Gathering cosplay; and a mashup that I can’t believe hasn’t been done before. This Small Oddities has it all.

The photograph titled “The Mission Begins” by Chris Buff, a.k.a. aviationbuff on deviantArt is simply one of a kind. He captioned the piece with “B-17F Flying Fortress in the livery of the “Memphis Belle.” So, the photo may have caught my attention, because I thought it might be a B-17, but the caption proved me right and I just had to keep looking at it.

The perspective on this, looking directly down the spine of the plane from the tail isn’t the standard photo taken of the existing Flying Fortresses that exist today. The propellers are turning and rudder is slightly to the left, which means this is a photograph of a functioning B-17. Obviously, Chris could have chosen to take the photo in color and maybe he did, but the one he posted was this black and white version, which gives it a kind of lost-in-time look.

The Memphis Belle, was one of the first B-17’s that completed 25 combat missions with her crew intact during the WWII. After 25 mission you’re home free and the crew of the Memphis Belle was no different, which is why they went home to tour America and sell war bonds. This kind of stuff doesn’t go unnoticed by Hollywood as there is a slightly fictionalized movie about their  25th and final combat mission. That being said, the teamwork involved in completing one mission on a B-17, much less 25, is astounding. And let us also not forget that the B-17 Flying Fortress was quite a marvel of modern engineering for the 1930’s. You can see more of Chris’s photography at www.aviationbuff.com.

From the Flying Fortress, we move on to something that used to be a part of daily life and is now seen as outdated and obsolete; the cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor.

This sepia photo of an “Abandoned computer,” was taken by Maleiva. I feel bad when I see old monitors and computers in disrepair. Not because, I want to go back (although it would be nice), but because these are the machines that I learned to use technology on.

Watch a movie made before 1995, and if it has a computer in it, it will probably have a CRT monitor. Anything before 1988 will probably feature people talking about the “magic box,” and how they don’t like change (just kidding, but maybe…).

The CRT monitor isn’t just a thing of the past for computers. It is also a thing of the past for our televisions, as well. The cathode ray tube has given way to LCDs, plasmas and OLEDs, because those technologies are cheaper and have a lower weight, power consumption and bulk. Did I mention the lower manufacturing cost? So maybe this is where CRTs belong?

Moving on from outdated technologies, lets talk about fictional technologies and other such things, with this cover of “EMPIRE,” a Maxim spoof from the Star Wars Universe by jamietyndall. Most people may fixate on cover model, Slave Leia, but that’s not what makes this interesting: it’s the articles!

“Princess Leia: The Empire’s Sexiest Captured Rebel Princess,” which leads me to believe there others: “Rogue Squadron: A Pain in our A@@,” which is an honest title; and “New AT-AT: Get your Lego Walker now before the Rebels Destroy them All…” which is a brilliant title on so many levels.

“Finding the Right Side of the Dark Side: A Sith’s Guide to the Evil Side of the Force,” which could be a very handy article for anyone looking to join the Dark Side; “Still Looking for the Millennium Falcon: Please Call: 1-800-VADER,” yeah, good luck with that; and “R2D2 Droid Handbook,” which could be useful, but the best is the exclusive.

“EXCLUSIVE Death Star Vacation Guide: Get the most out of your brief Imperial Stay,” again, funny on many levels. My hat is off to Jamie for all of the hard work and the fact that he didn’t mail it in. He really went all out to make this as realistic a Star Wars version of Maxim as possible. Job well done.

From hats off to hats on, it’s a picture of a guy cosplaying as Jester’s Cap from Magic the Gathering by Dariocosplay.

Now, I have seen my share of guys wearing the Jester’s Cap hat, but this photo was the first time I had seen it done as part of a complete costume. The hat, the face paint and makeup, the wardrobe – it’s surreal and the fact that he’s holding the Jester’s Cap card from Ice Age is great.

You don’t see that much, a cosplaying person holding the inspiration. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a cosplaying Batman, holding a comic book or a Princess Leia in a slave costume holding a DVD of Return of the Jedi? It just doesn’t happen.

So, I didn’t just pick this one because I’ve done a piece on Ice Age as part of my Old School Magic series. I picked this one because having played Magic during Ice Age’s heyday, I remember the ruckus that Jester’s Cap caused and, well, if you’d have dressed up like this back in 1995 after Ice Age’s release, everyone would have wanted a photo with you.

Anyway, let’s finish this Small Oddities up with a mash(up).

This is your life Charlie -Man or Spider-Brown. This mashup was done by m7781 and it is perfect. “With great power comes great grief.” How has this never been done before?

I applaud m7781 for doing this, because for me it is an instant classic. Snoopy flying around with “Goblin” written on his Green flying dog house and the grief lines over Spider-Brown’s head.

The piece even looks like it’s out of the comic strip as it has that newspaper texture. Looking around the internet these days, you will find plenty of spoofs, mashups and crossovers. Many leave you scratching your head, wondering why they were even done, but some make you wonder why they haven’t been done already.

Also, this isn’t just brilliant on the art level. The word mashup of “with great power comes great responsibility,” and “good grief” is a wonderful play on two very famous lines.

So there you have it. Old technologies that are either still magnificent or have been put out to pasture, spoofs, mashups, and cosplay. Keep looking, the internet is more than just cats and porn.